With the advancement in technology, several methods of data communication over a network, such as the Internet, have come into existence. To make the data communication between two parties, i.e., a sender and a receiver secure, it needs to be ensured that access to the data being communicated is limited to the two parties only. In other words, the privacy of the sender and receiver needs to be maintained. The importance of privacy is even more when communication involves transmission of data that is sensitive to either or both the parties. Data sent over communication channels, such as a physical wire, radio, and laser is susceptible to be tapped and misused.
Several measures have been developed to ensure secure communication of data. The requirement of any data communication system is that the data is sent to or received by only the intended recipient. The requirement for secure communication may be achieved by means of an authentication system which allows access of data only after authenticating the recipient. Further, when data is transmitted over Internet other security risks also exist. For example, the data being intercepted by a third party also poses threat to secure communication.
Conventionally, encryption techniques are employed to overcome such risks. Encryption of data involves encoding the data, using a code, at the sender's end. A corresponding code is made available to the intended recipients in order to decrypt the data at the receiver's end. This ensures that the data can be accessed only by the intended parties and not by any third party. Though several encryption techniques are conventionally known, the conventional techniques are often subject to various shortcomings. For example, some conventional techniques may be very complicated and consume a lot or resources in their implementation. Also, some existing techniques may be susceptible to attack by fraudulent entities.